Letter to the Editor: Leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein in Taiwanese inflammatory bowel disease: Strengths and limitations of a novel serum marker

Figure 1 Prospective Taiwanese inflammatory bowel disease cohort and study workflow. The schematic diagram represents the single-center cohort of 203 patients (100 with ulcerative colitis, 103 with Crohn’s disease). Serum leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein, C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, albumin, and fecal calprotectin were collected by the researchers within 1 month of endoscopy and analyzed against Mayo endoscopic subscore (ulcerative colitis) or Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn’s disease as reference standards. UC: Ulcerative colitis; CD: Crohn’s disease; LGR: Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein; CRP: C-reactive protein; FC: Fecal calprotectin; MES: Mayo endoscopic subscore; SES-CD: Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn’s disease.

Figure 2 Summary of biomarker performance for predicting endoscopic activity in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Comparative visualization of the area under the curve values for C-reactive protein (CRP), leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG), and fecal calprotectin is shown. Additionally, it includes the composite model combining CRP, hemoglobin, and LRG in ulcerative colitis patients with low or normal CRP. It illustrates that LRG provides modest standalone discrimination but improves diagnostic accuracy when used in serum-based composite panels. UC: Ulcerative colitis; CD: Crohn’s disease; LGR: Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein; CRP: C-reactive protein; FC: Fecal calprotectin; AUC: Area under the curve; Hb: Hemoglobin.